Floor cleaning machine



Nov. 2, 1948. J. w; GARDNER 2,452,744

FLOOR CLEANING MACHINE Filed June 6, 1945 INVENTOR.

1 1g 3 JOHZVET ampm (Bl'jjW A T TORZVEY Patented Nov. 2, 1948 UNITED STATES Fries arnr 1 Claim.

This invention-relatesxto floor cleaning or dusting: machines, andzaims to providesuch a machine utilizing-anchor paper-such as,.f.or instance, that whichis commonly available for useas paper towels, for'wiping up or gathering dust from smoothesurfaced; floors such as; wood, linoleum, oil cloth, tile, etc. Thedust'which is thus gathered is passed along with.the-paper to which it clings ontoiawinding-roller where the paper with the dust accumulation thereon is wound into a roll which is then thrown away, whereby any need to clean: the deviceor any. partof. it (as is necessary, for instance, in the case of floor. mops or carpet sweepers) is eliminated. I

Another-object of'the invention is the provision of such a device which is simple in construction andioperation, economical in use; and inexpensive in-cost of manufacture and maintenance:

Thea-hove broad as well as additional and'more specificyobjects will be further clarified in the following description, wherein characters of reference refer to. like-numbered parts in the accompanying drawings. It is to beunderstood that the drawings are intended for the purpose ofillustration only, and that it isneither desired nor intended to limit the scope of the invention to the specific details of construction shown and described excepting insofar as they may be deemed essential to the invention.

Referring briefly to the drawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the machine.

Fig. 2 is a plan'view of the same with parts broken away and partly in section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the machine.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary enlargement of Fig. 3, showing the rear portion of the frame, with parts omitted.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a fragment of the winding roller and its pinion or ratchet, illustrating the means for securing the leading edge of the paper from the roll of paper, thereon.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral It) indicates the frame of the machine which comprises a pair of vertical side members II and I2 united at the top by a cross member I3 which is positioned somewhat rearward of the midpoint of the length of the side members so as to provide a degree of resiliency or separability between the forward ends I4 of the frame sides II and I2. Bosses I5 and I6 are secured in axial alignment against the inner sides of the side members I I and I2 near the forward ends I4 thereof. The numeral I'I indicates a length or roll of paper which is purchased in the market wound upon a cardboard drum 58. It is apparent that the roll is readily mounted on the bosses l5 and I6 by'slightly separating the frame ends 54 to slip the drum I8 on the bosses.

The depth of the rear ends l9 and 20 of the sides H and I2 are reduced by cutting away the lower portions thereof at 2| and 22, respectively, the reduced ends 23 and 29 thus constituting rearwardly extending tongues having flat bottom surfaces. Near the reduced end E9 of the side II a bore ZSis provided for the rotatable reception of a pin it on one end of a roller or winding drum 252 The other end of the roller 25 has a staff 25 projecting therefrom, provided with a pinion or ratchet 2'! on its extremity,

The cut-out 22 of the frame member !2 is continued upward in a forward direction at 28 to provide atongue 28-along the lower edge of the member. The upper edge of the tongue 29 may be substantially'horizontal. and at a position thereon in axial alignment with the bore 23 a semicircular recess 30 is cut down thereinto. The portion of the staif 26 between the drum 25 and the pinion 21 is adapted to rest rotatably inthe recess 38 A leaf spring 3| is'secured against the lower surface of the reduced rear end 26 of the member i2 and extends over the staff at, normally urging the latter to remain in the recess 30.

With the drum I8 mounted in position at the front of the frame ID, the paper I! thereof is passed under the cross member I3 and around the roller 25 in a counter-clockwise direction. I'he leading end of the paper H is secured to the drum 25 in the following manner. Intermediate the length of the drum a recess or slot 32 is out thereinto, as shown in Fig. 5. A spring clip 33 is bent to form at one end a finger 34 which is frictionally insertable into and removable from the slot 32, and at the other end a rounded tongue 35 having the contour of the drum 25. With the leading edge Ila of the paper I I positioned as shown, the clip 33 is forced down into the recess 32 so that the tongue 35 thereof overlaps the edge Fla and thus clamps the same against the drum. To remove the edge I m from the drum it is simply necessary to lift up the resilient tongue 35, or the entire clip may be removed if desired.

A yoke 36 has arms 3'! and 38 whose extremities are bent to form pins 39 which register pivotally in aligned bores diithrough the sides It and I2. A socket tl on the yoke 36 is receptive of the end of a stick or handle 42.

The arm 38 of the yoke 36 has pivotally secured thereto near the lower end thereof an elongated pawl 43 whose nose 44 is adapted in the well known manner to engage the teeth of the ratchet 21 when the pawl is moved in a forward direction (with respect to the frame l0) and to ride over the teeth when it is moved in the opposite direction.

In use, with the edge Ha of the paper H secured to the drum 25 as above described, the machine is ushed along and over the floor 45. Because of the relative smoothness of the floor, there will be insufficient friction between the floor and the contact lines or surfaces of the paper to provide a tractive grip on the paper in contact with the floor; hence, neither roller will rotate and the machine will slide across the floor as a rigid unit. In this operation the dust on the floor clings to the paper, and, as is apparent, the forward roller provides one side of the paper i? in contact with the floor while the rear roller provides the other side of the paper in such contact. Then, at the desire of the operator and when, in his judgment, new and clean paper surfaces should be presented against the floor, he swings the handle 42 upward through an arc, thereby causing engagement of the pawl 43 with the pinion 2? to turn the latter through an arc sufiicient to wind up a length of paper H on the drum 25 and to unwind a similar length from the drum 18. As this operation is repeated, the dust-covered paper i? is wound onto the drum 25; and when the operation of cleaning the floor has been completed, the pinion 215' may be given a few turns by hand to completely wrap the dust in the roll of paper on the drum 25. The operator may then, if he desires, tear the paper etween the rolls and remove the rear roll, lift it out of its bearings against the spring 3 I, remove and throw away the dust-covered paper from the drum 2-5, and reinsert the drum into the machine in an obvious manner to get it ready for the next cleaning. Or, he may simply leave the rear roll in the machine after each cleaning of the floor and use up the entire roll of paper !1 until he removes the rear roll and discards the soiled paper. In either case the soiled paper is simply thrown away, whereby any need to clean the wiping means of the machine is eliminated.

Obviously, modifications in form and structure 45 may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

In a frame having a front end and a rear end and including a pair of spaced parallel upright side members extending substantially the length of the frame, the rear end of one of said members having a horizontal bore, the rear end of the other of said members havin the lower corner thereof cut out thereby providing a rearwardly extending tongue from the upper portion of said other of said members with said tongue positioned above cut out, said tongue having a fiat bottom su-face, said other of said side members having an additional cut out extending through the underside of said tongue at the base thereof and upward and forward to provide a second rearwardly extending tongue on the lower edge thereof, said last named tongue having a substantially semi circular recess out down into the upper surface thereof in alignment with said bore, a drum having a pin on one end registering in said bore and having a staff on the other end removably resting in said recess, a leaf spring having one end secured to said fiat bottom and extending forward into said last-named cut out and contacting the upper surface of said staff thereby normally urging said staii into said recess.

JOHN W. GARDNER.

REFERENQJES CITED The following references are of record in the like of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 503,277 Brigham Aug. 15, 1893 899,725 Goodier Sept. 29, 1908 899,726 Gcodier Sept. 29, 1908 899,72 G-oodier Sept. 29, 1908 1,130,064 Buchanan Mar. 2, 1915 1,146,568 Tanaka July 13, 1915 1,731,266 Raymond Oct. 15, 1929 1,903,?94 Richardson et a1. Apr, 18, 1933 2,079,452 Hunter May 4, 1937 

